ash and smoke || r.mikaelson

prologue

London 1801

The narrow winding streets that were often crowded with people, horses and carts was now empty. Only filled with mist and the occasional drunkard. The stars hang in the onyx coloured sky, overlooking the empty streets below with a sickening glimmer as if they somehow knew what events were about to take place.

Looking up at the stars, Seraphina Black wishes that somehow she could waste away and slowly drift up to the stars. Drift away from this miserable, cold and unfair world. But she couldn't. She often wondered if there was a higher power in this existence. She doubted that there ever would be, after all what kind of higher power would allow so much pain and grief to take place to the people who deserved it the least.

Seraphina lets out a small sigh, hoping that somehow the power of this world would take pity on her and show her a way out of her impending doom. She knew it wouldn't happen. It never did. Ultimately, after wishing and waiting for months she began to lose hope. She began to see that there was no point in wishing or believing in anything because when push comes to shove, you only end up disappointed.

Her thoughts were cut off by the loud clunk of the lock on the old wooden door being shifted. The door creaked open slowly allowing an old lady to walk into the small damp room. Her small heels hitting the floor over and over again with a satisfying clip. Seraphina slowly looked up at the woman, her ivory hair falling into her face.

Seraphina wondered if she should call out and scream the words 'Please! Please, I beg you! Don't do this!'. Then she realised it would be no use, they would only reply the same way that had the numerous times before.

"It must be done child."

"The spirits have chosen you to be the one, the one to give us what we have wished for."

Absurdly, without fail they always seemed to explain her destiny to her with a wicked and crazed look on their faces. It was almost as if they had all practiced it.

"Come, it is time. You will obey and you will do as we say. You will stay quiet or I will cut out your tongue." The old woman basically hissed at her. Seraphina only nodded before she was pulled up from the floor and dragged out before she could bother to place her feet firmly on the ground. She was dragged out onto the empty streets of London and hauled into a pitch black carriage. This was when she realised she had no chance of escape.

She was doomed.

Before she could bother to protest a black bag was placed over her head, preventing her from seeing where exactly she was. Seraphina was scared. No scratch that, she was petrified. And to think that only a year ago she was safe and happy, laughing and smiling with her friends as they strolled through the streets of London.

But, that was all gone now. No friends, no happiness, no laughter and no safety. All of it was destroyed and forgotten, now only pain and suffering was left in the wake of destruction and greed.

Before long the carriage came to a stop, a sudden jolt wracking through the interior. Once again, Seraphina felt herself being dragged out of the carriage. She didn't bother to count how long she walked for, she would rather relive her best memories over and over again in her last moments than count how many bloody steps she had taken.

In a matter of seconds, the bag on her head was ripped off and she was thrown to the ground. She slowly looked around taking notice of all the people she once considered friends and family. Her coven.

"How? How could you just use me like this? After all I have done for you? I saved you all from extinction and this is how you repay me? Shame on all of you." Seraphina yelled out, letting all of her anger be released.

"Watch your tongue!" The lead elder hissed out, making Seraphina narrow her eyes at her.

"And you. You said you would always protect me. Look at you now, standing in the lead getting ready to kill me. Such a wonderful mother." Seraphina spat out. She was seething.

"Enough of this. It is time. Sisters join me or die." The whole coven formed a circle around Seraphina, joining hands before chanting so fast that Seraphina couldn't understand the words flowing from their mouths. She tried to open her mouth to scream but she found that she couldn't, they had taken control of her body. They had silenced her. Suddenly her mother speaks louder that the rest of the coven, beginning the summoning.

"Dicimus pientissimam contentionem, qui praeest peccatum et exitium. Hóstias imperii vicem. Nos volo immortalia. Ego tibi non erit in aeternum si velim ut det nobis hoc." Her mother chants out, thick black blood running from her eyes.

Then all the chanting stops as a rumble is heard. Suddenly a crack forms in the ground, a crack big enough for a small spark to come through with a small pop! Before anyone can say anything the crack in the ground expands quickly as hellfire rushes out and towards Seraphina. As soon as the hellfire licks at her skin she screams, the pain is blinding. But what wasn't expected was that she did not turn to ash or get dragged into hell. No, instead the hellfire only smothered her making her invisible to the coven.

Inside the cocoon of fire Seraphina was struggling to stay conscious. The pain was so overwhelming that she thought she would rather die by falling from a great height. Just when she was about to pass out from the excruciating pain it all stopped. The pain was no longer there, it was if she had suddenly become immune to it. Before she could wonder why she was pain free, the hellfire started to ooze into every open pore. It travelled through her body intertwining with her veins, cells and muscles. But, what surprised her most was that it didn't hurt. Not at all.

After she had absorbed all of the hellfire that surrounded her, she slowly stood up with a wicked smile. She looked around at her so called coven before she tilted her head.

"Your turn."

Before any of them could react, Seraphina had sent individual balls of hellfire at each of them, burning them to ash and marking their souls as damned. Seraphina grinned wickedly at the sounds of all of their screams, chuckling to herself thinking only one thing.

Who needs a higher power when you can become one yourself?

Translation of latin spell at the start of the chapter = We summon he who rules over sin and destruction. We offer this sacrifice in turn of a command. We wish for immortality. We will be in your service forever if you wish to grant us this.